Brake for sleds



Patented dan. ii, f?.

UNITED STATES DON R. LIMBERS, OF NUTTER FORT, WEST VIRGNIA.

BRAKE FOR SLEDS.

Application led February 24, 1926. Serial No. 90,347.

rl'his invention relates to sleds, and has for its object to provide an improved brake mechanism therefor which may be conveniently mounted upon a sled ot ordinary construction without requiring any changes therein, for the mounting of the brake mechanism, and which mechanism will opcrate etectually to check and stop the travel oit' the sled in a gradual and satisfactory manner.

The brake mechanism is mounted beneath the top ot the sled so as not to interfere with the user of the sled in any manner whatsoever', while at the same time the hand control ot the brake is conveniently accessible -for operation by either or both hands of the occupant of the sled.

Tilif'ith these and other objects in view, the present invention consists in the combination and arrangement of parts as will be hereinafter more fully described. illustrated in the accompanying drawings and particularly pointed out in the appended claims, it ot course being understood that changes in the form, proportion, size and minor dctails may be made, within the scope of the claims, without departing from the spirit or sacriicing any of the advantages of the in vention.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a top plan View of a sled having the brake mechanism of the present invention applied thereto.

Figure 2 is a side elevation of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is an enlarged detail sectional view on the line 3-3 of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is an enlarged. detail sectional view on the line 4 4 of Figure 1.

In the accompanying drawing I have shown a sled of conventional form merely for illustrative purposes and it will of course. be understood that the details of construction ot' the sled may vary widely without atiectng the present invention, because the invention resides in the brake mecha- .nism and not in the sled.

In carrying out the present invention I mount upon each of the sled runners 5, shown in Figure 3 of the drawing as an inverted T-bar, one or more brake members (i, two such brake members being shown upon each of the sled runners. Each brake membei' is in the nature of a dog having a downturned pointed hook portion to engage the snow or ice bed on which the sled is trave-L ling, The brake member is pivoted between its ends upon a bracket 7 which rises from and is secured to the upstandmg shank porn tion of the sled runner, upon Vwhich the bracket is secured by a clamp member 8 and a bolt or other fastening 9 extending through the bracket and the clamp member. The upper portion of the bracket inclines inw rdly and is provided with a lateral pintle or projection 10 on which the brake member 6 is pivoted, there being a cotter 11 or other means for holding the brakeY member upon the pivoted pin 10. j

The brake members 6 at each side of the sled are simultaneously actuated through' the medium ot a brake rod 12 which passes through an elongated eye l?,y in the upper end ot each brake member. Shock absorbing springs 14 encircle the brake rod and bear against opposite sides of the upper ends ot' the brake members, and also bear at the outer ends against collars or abutments 15 adjustably secured upon the brake rod by suitable set screws 16.

The brake rods 12 are connected at their front ends by a cross-head made up of a bracket 17 having rearwardly diverged sockets 17 receiving rods 18 which are secured to the sockets by set screws 19. The rods 18 diverge rearwardly and incline `downwardly, and each is provided with an arm 20 in alignment with the adjacent brake rod 12 and received within a socket 21 eX- tending forwardly from the adjacent colla-r or abutment 15, a suitable set screw 22 being employed to rigidly connect the arm 2O with the socket 21. As thus far described itl will be seen that the brake members 6 at opposite sides of the sled are connected for simultaneous operation by the connecting means which includes the brake rod members 12, 2O and 18 which are in turn connected by the bracket 17.

For the hand control of the brake rods, l provide duplicate hand levers 23, each lever being fulcrumed at 24 between its ends upon the guide bar 25 whichy extends across and connects the side beams 26a ol the sled. Each hand lever 23 is in the forni of a channel in cross section as best shown in Figure 4 of the drawing so as to embrace the top and bottom ot the guide bar 25, the hand lc ver being disposed in front of the guide bar so that the end of the guide bar and the hand lever may be gripped by one hand ot the operator to swing the lever on its fuleruin 24a At the inner end of each hand leik ver there is a rearwardly directed arm ettendingaeross the top ot the guide bar2fi and pivoted at 27 to one end ot a bell crank lever 28 which is tulcrumed intermediate o'r' its ends at 29 upon the top of the ZQfuide bar 25. The bell cranks 28 overlap one another across the rear ot the guide bar 25 and are provided with registered slots to receive a connecting bar 30 which has its rear end received within a socket 31 upon the front o1" the bracket 17, there being a set screw 32 to rigidly and adjustably connect the rod 30 and the socket 3l. The trent end portion of the bar 30 is 'screw threaded and nuts and 33 are provided upon the screw threaded iortion at the front and rear of the over'- lapped bell crank portions 28 so as to form stops or abutmcnts whereby the connectingl rod 30 will be moved endwise by manipulation ol either or both oi' the hand levers 23, which ot course will result in endwise movement ot the brake rods 12 and consequent operation ot the brake members to thrust the lower pointed ends into the snow or icc on which the sled is travelling', thereby to check and stop the movement ot the sled, r1he springs 14 permit the necessary yielding' ot the brake members G so as to prevent the latter from hanging' in stones or other obstructions and also operate to absorb lshocks and bring the sled gradually to a full stop or merely check the sliding` movement ot the sled.

For the purpose ot maintaining the brake rod mechanism at its forward limit so as to maintain the lower ends ot the brake menibers 6 in inoperative position, a spring 311- is provided upon the rod 8O with its rear end bearing` against a bracket secured to the underside o1 the part 86 ot the top oit the sled and slotted to permit ot the necessary sidewise play ot the connecting` rod. At its front end, the spring` 34- bears against the adjacent nut 33 whereby the rod 30 is yieldably maintained at its forward limit and the brake members 6 are yieldably n'iaintained in elevated inoperative positions.

'Vhat is claimed is:

1. The combination with a sled, ot a bracket upon one ot the sled runners, a swingingbrake member pivoted upon the bracket, a brake rod associated with the brake member and carrying shock absorbing springs bearing against opposite sides ot the brake member, and operating means for aetuating' the brake rod.

2. The combination with a sled, of a bracket upon one of the sled runners, a brake member pivoted between its ends upon the bracket and provided with a slotted upper end, a brake rod extending through the slot ot the brake member, abutments upon the brake rod and at opposite sides ot the brake member, compression springs enibrac ing the brake rod at opposite sides ot' the brake member and bearing' at opposite ends against the brake member and the respective abutinents, and means for moving' the brake rod endwise.

3. rThe combination with a sled, of brackets rising from the vsled runners, swiiwnng,l brake members pivoted upon the brackets, brake roc-s associated with the brake members at respective sides of the sled, shock absorbers between the brake rods and the brake members, a cross-hearL connecting the front ends of the bral-e rods, a hand lever' mounted upon the t'ront portion of the sled, a bell crank actuated by the hand lever, and a con necting rod between the bell crank and the cross-head.

a. The combination with a lsled, ot brackets rising 'from the sled runners, swinging;- brake members pivoted upon the brackets, brake rods associated with the brake mear bers at respective sides ot the sled, a crosshead connecting the front ends ot the brake rods, a and lever mounted upon the ifi-ont portion ot the sled, a bell crank actuated by tbe hand lever, a connecting rod between the bell crank and the cross-head, a bracket depending from a top part ot the sled and havinny an opening in which tbe connecting rod works, and a coiled spring` embracing the connecting` rod and bearingv against the bracket and connected with the connecting,- rod to yieldably maintain the brake members in an elevated and inoperative position.

5. rllhe combination with a sled, of pivotally mounted brake members at opposite sides of the sled, brake rods associated with the brake men'ibers at each side ot the sled, a cross-head connecting` tbe Jfront ends ot the brake rods, hand operated cont-rol means in'- cluding;` overlapped levers, a connecting rod secured to the crosshead and extending' through openings in the overlapped portions ot the levers, nuts upon the connectingred adjacent and at opposite sides of the overlapped lever portions, a bracket dependin ilfrom a top portion ot the sled and having an opening receiving the connecting rod, and a compression spring," emlfn'acing the connecting rod and bearing at one end against the bracket and at its other end against the nut at the rear ot the overlapped lever portions.

DON R. LI'il'ER-S. 

